This contract provides the interface with academic establishments and the private sector for evaluation of new classes of compounds for activity against M. tuberculosis. This acquisition component actively canvases medicinal chemists and pursues chemicals and natural products described in the academic literature and in compounds identified via pharmaceutical company repositories. The contract serves as the central storage repository of agents prior to testing. All compounds are tested under a confidentiality agreement and new compounds will be registered with the existing chemical structure database to avoid duplicative testing. The emphasis for exploration in the current contract will be for compounds to kill quiescent or dormant tubercle bacilli present in the latent phase of disease. The contractor is responsible for supplying biological data to the suppliers and for serving as a central contact for further drug development interactions.